-
財務簽證
財務簽證
-
稅務簽證
稅務簽證
-
營業稅簽證
營業稅簽證
-
公開發行及上市櫃專案輔導與規劃
公開發行及上市櫃專案輔導與規劃
-
IFRS專區
IFRS專區
-
移轉訂價服務
移轉訂價服務
-
跨國交易租稅規劃
跨國交易租稅規劃
-
外國專業投資機構之稅務代理人
外國專業投資機構之稅務代理人
-
所得稅法第四條及第二十五條專案核定申請
所得稅法第四條及第二十五條專案核定申請
-
租稅協定之專案申請
租稅協定之專案申請
-
租稅獎勵申請
租稅獎勵申請
-
稅負平衡政策訂定與假定稅計算
稅負平衡政策訂定與假定稅計算
-
代為計算薪資及各項扣繳
代為計算薪資及各項扣繳
-
資遣通報
資遣通報
-
處理薪資轉帳事宜及繳納扣繳稅款
處理薪資轉帳事宜及繳納扣繳稅款
-
勞保賠償給付申請
勞保賠償給付申請
-
勞健保,二代健保及退休金之申報及繳納
勞健保,二代健保及退休金之申報及繳納
-
年底開立扣繳憑單
年底開立扣繳憑單
-
IT 顧問服務
IT 顧問服務
-
PRIMA 顧問服務
PRIMA 顧問服務
-
營運計劃書編制
營運計劃書編制
-
績效考核服務
正大聯合會計師事務所協助企業進行績效制度建立及優化,協助管理者與員工在目標上達成共識,並透過激勵和幫助員工取得優異績效從而實現組織目標的管理,真實反映員工的工作表現,目的在幫助企業激發員工的工作熱情和提高員工的能力和素質,淘汰不良員工,客觀具體、制度公平,迅速反映員工在職能上的表現並調整工作內容,創造勞資雙贏的局面。
-
沙賓氏法案第404條遵循查核
沙賓氏法案第404條遵循查核
-
內部稽核服務
內部稽核服務
-
協議程序(併購交易實地查核)
協議程序(併購交易實地查核)
-
風險管理服務
協議程序(併購交易實地查核)
-
舞弊調查服務
舞弊調查服務
-
電腦鑑識服務
電腦鑑識服務
-
外籍人士工作證申請
外籍人士工作證申請
-
商業文件英日文翻譯服務
商業文件英日文翻譯服務
-
公司、分公司、行號設立登記
公司、分公司、行號設立登記
-
外商分公司、辦事處設立登記
外商分公司、辦事處設立登記
-
陸資來台投資設立登記
陸資來台投資設立登記
-
行政救濟
行政救濟
-
企業法律諮詢
企業法律諮詢
-
破產與限制
破產與限制
-
公司解散和清算
公司解散和清算
-
供應商和員工背景調查
供應商和員工背景調查
-
存證信函草稿服務
存證信函草稿服務
-
中英文協議的準備和審查
中英文協議的準備和審查
-
放寬限制出境
放寬限制出境
-
勞動法合規與勞資談判
勞動法合規與勞資談判
-
企業和個人資產規劃
企業和個人資產規劃
-
企業評價服務
企業評價服務
-
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
-
財團法人及社團法人等非營利組織(公益慈善基金會)
財團法人及社團法人等非營利組織(公益慈善基金會)
-
文化教育相關產業(私立學校)
文化教育相關產業(私立學校)
-
其他政府委託專案查核
其他政府委託專案查核
Nathan Goode applauds the energy saving blueprint from Japan
We asked the 3,500 business leaders who responded to our latest Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) a new question in Q4-2013: Do you expect rising energy costs to constrain the growth of business over the next 12 months? More than a third of businesses said yes, making it the second largest concern businesses have for 2014 behind only economic uncertainty. You can view the full results here but I wanted to explain in more detail what I think this means for the cleantech sector.
In the long-term, renewables have the potential to flatten energy costs for both businesses and consumers. However, in the short-term, renewable energy tends to be expensive and requires government subsidies to make it investible. For example, the UK Government has offered a price of £155 ($250) per megawatt hour for offshore wind energy; around three times the current wholesale price of electricity.
Energy costs account for significant and rising chunks of both household and business outlays. Understandably, consumers and companies are clamouring for lower prices now. But this acts as a major disincentive for governments to take the long term perspective needed to support the move to greener energy sources. In Europe, the EU has recently announced a proposed 40% cut in emissions by 2030, which includes an EU-wide target of 27% renewables, but at the time of writing it was not clear how this would be translated into national targets, potentially giving less willing nations plenty of wriggle room. The EU has also announced a target of 25% energy efficiency, but, significantly, this is described as non-binding, implying that it is harder not to use energy than to find new technologies to generate it. This seems counter-intuitive, to say the least.
The global picture on energy costs is far from uniform. In Japan, where nuclear provided 30% of the electricity supply before the Fukushima disaster, four in five businesses are now worried about the rising cost of energy. By contrast, this is a concern for just one in seven businesses in the United States, where the shale revolution has actually lowered energy costs for many businesses. In Europe, it is telling that businesses in Germany (36%), where the government is phasing out nuclear, are much more concerned with rising energy costs than peers in the UK (22%), where new stations such as Hinkley Point are being commissioned, although politicians in the UK appear to fear the political fallout from rising costs just as much as their German counterparts. Equally interesting are the Nordics: just 4% of businesses in oil and hydro-rich Norway are worried about increased energy costs; while only 12% of businesses in Finland are, which is has no fossil fuel resources but significant amounts of nuclear power, hydro and biomass.
So what’s the answer? Firstly, use less energy. Post-Fukushima, Japan’s government introduced stringent energy conservation measures, including a 15% reduction in energy usage for buildings of a certain size and 30% for large corporates.
The results were impressive and show how relatively simple measures can help reduce energy consumption and therefore lighten the associated cost burden. Slashing funding for renewable energy is a short-term, populist measure which will mean higher costs for businesses and consumers in the long-term. But governments will help the case for renewables by also getting serious about energy efficiency, alongside, of course, a balanced low carbon energy mix, which gets a whole lot harder without nuclear.
Nathan Goode is global leader for energy & cleantech at Grant Thornton.